Everybody’s favourite archaeologist-turned-sex symbol, Lara Croft, is due to make her way back on to our consoles next year in the latest Tomb Raider title.

Lara Croft has become one of the most recognisable characters from the world of gaming, with a bumper ten titles under her belt. The later may not have all been as good as those first couple of titles, whose innovation and gameplay generated huge sales worldwide.

Some of the sequels tainted the Tomb Raider series slightly, but every gamer out there still has a soft spot for the female protagonist.

It feels like a long time since we last got to give Lara Croft a go at exploring the depths of the unknown, but a reboot of the franchise is on the horizon, so what do we know so far?

Lara Croft’s origins

Given the upcoming Tomb Raider title is a reboot, the developers are taking us back to the beginning. So expect to see a younger, more innocent and far less experienced Lara at the start of the game.

Crystal Dynamics, the developer of the refreshed franchise, has already hinted at a sequel, leaving the upcoming title to turn Lara into the hardened, gun-toting badass that we know and love.

Lara Croft voice actress

After giving Keeley Hawes, who lent her voice to a number of Tomb Raider games, the old heave-ho, Crystal Dynamics set about finding someone fresh for the reboot.

After a gruelling search, they’ve settled on Camilla Luddington – the English actress you might recognise from True Blood or the TV film William and Kate. But don’t let that put you off, the developers are adamant they’ve got the right girl.

“This has been one of the most important jobs for us to get right,”

said Darrell Gallagher, from Crystal Dynamics.

“We are demanding far more from the voice and performance acting than ever before as we take the franchise in a new direction.”

Tomb Raider release date

Despite this being a rough-and-ready, back-to-the-beginning title, it still needed to be pushed back from its originally planned release date.

We had expected to see Tomb Raider in the autumn of this year, but the developers have now pushed it back to 5 March 2013.